Online Sales Tax – How, Why and Will it Work?

Started a new healthy campaign for the month of May. 10,000 steps a day for the month. So far, so good. Today, I’ll be doing it after the podcast so we’ll see how that goes. Its getting warm here and the switch to shorts has been made.

Get fit! Learn how standing can help your back and lower blood pressure – JustStand.org

Geek Smack! episode 261 Tech News:

Adobe Creative Cloud
Will retire the Creative Services (CS) disc license system and go Cloud subscription only – for $50 a month3D Gun Fired
Is making a gun on a 3D printer a good idea?Samsung Buys MOVL
Mobile company is going to incorporate more Swipe to TV technologiesiPad is “Frustrating”
Bill Gates thinks people will switch to Windows 8 tablets because they are frustrated with iOS devices.Extract Human DNA
Machine will separate DNA easier and faster.EA Gets Star Wars
EA has exclusive rights to make Star Wars gamesUSCellular Gets iPhone
Virgin, T-Mobile and now USCelluar get the Apple iPhoneApple Sued Again
National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan is suing Apple for video compression in Facetime, QuicktimeLEGO VW
This LEGO creation is a VW bus AND an Imperial Walker

Geek Smack: Senate Passes Sales Tax Bill. One Step Closer

The final number was 69 to 27 as Congress passed Online Sales Tax. This would be required for online stores to add Sales Tax from your state. It’s now on to the House of Representatives where its going to go through further debate.

Right now you are required to pay Sales tax on anything you buy, but do you do it? Did you even know that you were suppose to?

So this can mean if you run an online store that you have to put in some algorithm to figure out where the customer is from and then add the tax. You then will have to report that tax to each state you sold items in.

Will this mean Internet companies might locate outside the US? Will companies outside the US have to deal with Sales Tax?

This bill is in debate partly because of the Commerce Clause. It says in Section 8: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

This tax will supersede whatever the state thinks. That is one of the problems with this law. With some states that don’t charge sales tax, they are opposed to this bill.

The real question is if this will change how people shop. If Amazon still has 2 day shipping and great deals – even with Sales Tax – then I still might just purchase from there.

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This week, Luke was at the Google Developer’s Summit (GDG) in San Jose, CA. GDG meetups happen all over the world, so if you are even interested in becoming a Google platform developer, look for your local GDG. Schedule note: For the next two weeks I’ll be on the road, ultimately at SXSW Interactive. Wearable […]

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